Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The film takes a critical look at the global banking system and is set in Paris, London, New York, Davos and Tokyo. Kassovitz will play the role of president of one of Europe’s largest investment banks Marc Tourneuil, He becomes the target of the U.S.’ largest hedge funds. Byrne will play one of the "main shareholders.”

The spaghetti western style film follows a slave named Django who teams with German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz on a mission to rescue his wife from a sadistic plantation owner.

Will Smith is the frontrunner for the lead.
Quentin originally wanted Leo to play Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds" before ultimately casting Christoph Waltz in the role. Waltz is eyed to play Schultz who trains Django and helps him on his quest. Samuel L. Jackson is being sought to play Stephen, the expert manipulator and house slave of the plantation owner.

No confirmation yet, and Goldsmith carefully labels the news a "Casting Rumor"

In the film How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor plays Jesse Fisher, a 35-year-old admissions worker at a Gotham college who visits his liberal arts alma mater in Ohio where a 19-year-old student named Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen) tries to romance him.

The tale follows Fray (Lily Collins) who has "The Sight" and can see both demons and Shadowhunters. When Clary's mother is abducted, she is forced to learn about her bloodline and abilities in order to get her mother back.

Bower plays Jace Wayland, one of the best Shadowhunters--A role that Alex Pettyfer was in talks for at one point

The project is based on the Suzanne Collins novel series which have developed a major following across all age groups and is said to potentially be the 'next Twilight'.

The story involves a young love triangle playing out against a dystopian future where North America has been divided into twelve oppressed districts, each of which is forced to send tribute in the form of a boy and a girl to compete in a televised battle to the death once a year.

In the story Snow has been the autocratic ruler of Panem and its contained districts for some 25 years at the outset of the story. With a snake-like appearance, he is cruel and ruthless in his intimidation and control tactics

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action. Location scouting is underway in Shelby, North Carolina where the rundown District 12 set i going to be Shooting begins late next month.

“I have no plans for [3-D].I loved doing “Alice” in 3D. Frankenweenie, gonna do that in 3-D. There’s people like, ‘Everything’s gonna be in 3D,’ or ‘I hate 3D!’ I think people should have a choice. I don’t think it should be forced on anybody. At the same time, it’s great, some of it”

Burton also talked about the tone of the pic- “We’re not starting with the simple stuff; we’re sort of getting right in there. You like to kind of sneak up on it a little bit, but this one we just kind of slammed right into it… I’m early into it because it’s a funny tone, and that’s part of what the vibe of the show is, and there’s something about it that we want to get. But when you look at it, it’s pretty bad. I’m hoping that it will be — it’s early days, let’s put it — I’m very intrigued by the tone. It’s a real ethereal tone we’re trying to go for and I don’t know yet.”

This re-telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale follows a farm boy (Nicholas Hoult) who unwittingly breaks a long-standing peace between the humans and giants when he goes after a princess who the giants kidnapped.

"I don't know - I grew up reading the story of Jack and the Beanstalk I'm also familiar with the Jack the Giant Killer myth from the 1700s. There was a script that existed a couple of years ago that I changed quite a bit. The idea of that Wizard of Oz-style journey - you've got a beanstalk - what's up there?"

The Script

"[Christopher McQuarrie] did a significant re-write for me. He brought a different structure. It was very much a page-one situation; a different storyline. It involved the same characters, but some we juggled around and switched around. He just brought a very different perspective."

The Process

"It's my first time working in the performance capture space. It's a live-action movie, but the giants are fully rendered CG characters driven by actors, and that intrigued me because I hadn't done that before and I wanted to work in that space. And 3D came along and here we are with that."

Performance Capture

"It's fascinating. I've just started my rehearsals with the principal cast on the performance capture stage and I wish you were here so I could show you some photos on my iPhone because they are so comical. It takes you back to play-acting as a kid in your living room because you are running around and having to imagine that you are in Gantua and imagine that there are these weapons and all these giant things. But there's nothing when you are there other than Styrofoam and blocks. It forces the actors to regress to when they would play-act as kids or do minimalist theatre. But in that way it's fascinating - I can see why Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron have started to shoot pictures this way."

Casting Nicholas Hoult as Jack

"I met with a lot of people - a lot of people came in - and ultimately decided that he was right for the role. I've liked him since Skins and I was very supportive of his casting in X-Men: First Class. He did a great job on that film, and I just really like him as an actor. He is a very charming, sweet guy. And he's just tall [laughs]. That's the one thing, he's just tall, and when you're making a movie about giants, you tend to want to cast shorter guys, but he's a terrific actor."

The Fairytale Renaissance

"I was involved with this over two-and-a-half years ago, or even longer - I was flirting with it almost three years ago. But[these fairytale features]are all just a function of Alice in Wonderland. And that's cool - it's a rensaissance of those kind of movies, and it's cool - I'm happy to be a part of two renaissances; the comic book renaissance, and now this one. But it wasn't intentional. In fact, I probably would have been shy about jumping into a fairytale movie with all of the projects out there now - I might have actually backed away from it. But now it's just serendipitous I guess"

Jack the Giant Killer began production last week and will be released worldwide in the summer of 2012.

The ending of the first film certainly leaves things open for more. But as I have said before the horror, genre works better to leave things more ambiguous sometimes rather than spelling it all out.

Blum adds. "There's no plan, no release date, nothing like that," says Blum. "I think James feels the same as as Oren Peli, who was very sceptical about doing a sequel to Paranormal Activity until Michael R. Perry pitched an idea and it made sense. If Leigh comes up with a story that's inventive and that James feels is worth making - as opposed to 'let's make another movie and make money' - we would do it. And if Leigh doesn't, we won't."

It's nice to see that, despite the lure of dollar signs that no one on the creative side is rushing in to get a sequel done--Will the studio suits undermine the take it slow approach?

Monday, May 30, 2011

"That’s a project that’s really exciting because all the actors will be playing more than one role. I actually have six characters in the same film and they are all different people in six different stories".

Based on the book by David Mitchell the story follows six storylines which range from a unwilling voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a bisexual composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded female journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his criminal world creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row in a futuristic cacotopia (often featured by cyberpunk) ; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the dusk of science and civilization.

The story centers upon everyone coming together for the Great Falls high school reunion, which will feature most of the original cast members. In the film Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) is still married to Jim (Jason Biggs) and the pair have a kid.

Co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro the film follows Sally (Bailee Madison), a young girl who moves to Rhode Island to live with her father (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Katie Holmes) in the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. Having stumbled upon the mansion’s hidden basement, Sally starts hearing voices calling out from the bolted ash pit, imploring her to open it. Sally obliges and unwittingly unleashes something so terrible, so unthinkable, that everyone's life – hers most of all - is placed in immediate and grave danger.

Now, Latino Review says the May 4th 2012 film has asecondary bad guy- Thanos. In the comics he's a mad cosmic tyrant bent on slaying half of all sentient beings in existence. One big part of his outfit is an 'Infinity Gauntlet', a jewelled glove.

A glove made a brief appearance in the Odin’s Vault scenes in "Thor".

Of course it is all speculation at this point--Nothing has been confirmed. The picture is currently shooting in New Mexico.

"Jack the Giant Killer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself."

Shattering numerous records, Warner Bros.’ The Hangover Part II grossed $118.1 million in its first four days to help fuel the best Memorial Day weekend in history at the domestic box office. The sequel is expected to gross another $20 million on Monday for a staggering five-day bow of $138.1 million, setting a new benchmark for comedies.

Overseas, Hangover opened to $59 million from 40 countries--thee times higher than the first Hangover and bringing the sequel's global bow to almost $200 million. Hangover grossed $16.4 million in the U.K., the best ever launch for a U.S. comedy, as well as the top opening of 2011.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount’s Kung Fu Panda 2 also contributed to the boom, grossing $54.6 million in its first four days (like Hangover, Panda opened on Thursday). The 3D toon should end Monday with a five-day total of $68.2 million.

Kung Fu Panda impressed overseas, where it grossed a mighty $57 million from 8,023 markets in only 11 territories. In seven territories, it scored the best opening ever for an animated title and in China, scored the biggest opening of all time for a foreign film in grossing $18.5 million.

Hangover’s foreign numbers weren’t immediately available.

In the U.S., the specialty business also soared, thanks to Woody Allen’s holdover Midnight in Paris and new entry The Tree of Life, from Terrence Malick.

Tree of Life, grossing $352,320 for the weekend proper as it opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, posted a per location average of $88,080—an all-time high for a Fox Searchlight title.

Midnight—which debuted last weekend to a per location average of $99,834—grossed $1.9 million as it expanded into a total of 58 theaters for a 10-day cume of $2.8 million, according to Rentrak.

The overall uptick in theater traffic at the domestic box office was a welcome respite for the film business, which has suffered one of the worst box slumps in history. Grosses for Memorial Day weekend are projected to reach $270 million, easily surpassing the $254 million earned in 2007.

From Todd Phillips, Hangover grabbed the best opening ever for a comedy, besting the $85.7 million earned by Bruce Almighty over Memorial Day weekend in 2003, as well as the biggest Saturday ever for a comedy ($29.7 million). Hangover's Friday-Sunday tally was $86.4 million.

Hangover and Universal’s Bridesmaids set new benchmarks for the playing power of R-rated comedies. Even with competition from Hangover, Bridesmaids held well over the weekend, declining only 27% to an estimated $16.4 million to place No. 4. On Monday, Bridesmaids is expected to earn another $4.4 million for a domestic cume of $89.4 million.

Hangover should grab the largest five-day opening ever for any R-rated pic, comedy or otherwise. Previous best was The Matrix Reloaded ($134.3 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($125.2 million).

Hangover is a sizeable victory for Warners and co-financing partner Legendary Pictures, and delivered the studio its best Memorial Weekend ever (Terminator Salvation was the previous crown holder at $65.3 million).

“This blows everything out of the water. It’s pretty amazing stuff,” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said. “Moviegoers love all the characters, and they love the story.”

Hangover is the first title in months to appeal heavily to younger moviegoers, who represented 54% of the audience.

Moviegoers delivered rave reviews for both Hangover and Kung Fu Panda, which drew an A- CinemaScore and A CinemaScore, respectively.

Families turned out in force for Kung Fu Panda, which return Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen and Lucy Liu return to lead the voice cast. About 45% of the total gross came 3D screens, although if the toon had played in Imax theaters, 3D grosses would have likely repped 55% of the total, according to DreamWorks.

Kung Fu Panda's Friday-Sunday gross was an estimated $48 million.

“We’re thrilled to have Kung Fu Panda be part of this record-breaking weekend. We came in at high end of expecations. We played very strong to families and kids, who made up 60% of our audience,” DreamWorks Animation president of marketing Anne Globe said.

The original Kung Fu Panda debuted to $60.2 million in early June 2008 at the domestic box office on its way to cuming $215.4 million.

Coming in third at the domestic box office was Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which grossed a solid $39.3 million for the three-day weekend and is projected to earn $50 million through Monday. For the weekend proper, the pic fell roughly 55% from last weekend, in line with drops for the previous titles in the franchise. On Stranger Tides should end Monday with a domestic cume of $163.7 million.

Disney president of worldwide distribution Chuck Viane said he was happy that Pirates helped contribute to the record Memorial Day weekend...

Bekmambetov says "We still talk sometimes about Wanted 2 We want to try and continue that story because it's a very interesting one for us."

And despite the fact that Angelina Jolie's character died and the actress herself said a few months ago that she won't be returning for any sort of follow-up--Bekmambetov says "The reality is we love [Jolie] and we'd love to do it with her, but also that story has such a big idea behind it that it can also go on without her."

Saturday, May 28, 2011

David Fincher's American adaptation of Swedish novel "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" hits theaters on December 21, 2011...however the push has begun with the debut of a RED BAND TRAILER has for audiences in the overseas markets

"Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas. I'm excited to announce today that we'll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again. Funny thing is, I look older—and he doesn’t! I guess that's why he makes such a wonderful elf."

Once it's the standard "creative differences" that took hold at first The film was also one of several on Russell's plate and speculation was that while doing interviews about it, his answers suggested that he'd barely played the game at all

Soon after the news broke The Los Angeles Times gave us more details on the split and says part of the reason for it came down to the long and highly ambitious script that was turned into the studio suits.

Russell had taken the film in a completely different direction than the studio had wanted--- a rough, wise-cracking lone adventurer exploring remote regions of the world with one or two helpers.

Russell had created an art-heist movie involving a family of international thieves and a bunch of characters not in the game.

A new writer and director will be brought in to work from earlier non-Russell draft that sticks much closer to the game in style. Attached star Mark Wahlberg is most likely out as well with David's split

"I think we're in the space now of building properties that are appealing to people, and there's a version of Bioshock that makes a great game and there's probably a version of Bioshock that makes a great movie. I think for us as a company, we don't have any need to get a movie made."

Friday, May 27, 2011

The story follows a wheelchair-bound author of Western novels (Morgan Freeman) whose alcoholism is destroying his drive. The friendship of the recently arrived family next door helps him rediscover his passion for writing.

Madsen will play the matriarch of the family, a single mother going through a divorce who has three daughters. Thompson will play Freeman's helpful nephew.

Madsen takes a role that Annette Bening had been linked to but was never officially signed.

The project is based on the Suzanne Collins novel series which have developed a major following across all age groups and is said to potentially be the 'next Twilight'.

The story involves a young love triangle playing out against a dystopian future where North America has been divided into twelve oppressed districts, each of which is forced to send tribute in the form of a boy and a girl to compete in a televised battle to the death once a year.

Chaney will play the Avox girl while Gelman and Ascencio are Venia and Flavius respectively,

In the book, an Avox is someone who has revelled against the Capitol and had their tongue cut out in punishment. Venia and Flavius are two members of the prep team for Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence)

Collins adapted her own book into script form which Billy Ray has re-written. Gary Ross will call action. Location scouting is underway in Shelby, North Carolina where the rundown District 12 set i going to be Shooting begins late next month.

Damast's film tells the true story of how the composer turned a group of women, who were the illegitimate daughters of courtesans, into an orchestra that eventually played for the Pope. Riggen's focuses on the composer’s struggle between his devotion to his music and the priesthood, and his love for a woman.

Leonard’s classic 1970's-set book has Miller playing a former radical turned romance novelist who tracks down her old partner in crime, a movie special effects man, for one last score. Their target: a wealthy alcoholic (William H. Macy) whom she blames for sending her to prison. Trouble is, she ain't the only one after him as both a suspended cop and a former Black Panther want to join in on the gig.

Influenced by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the story follows a band of characters as they journey towards the distant planet of Hyperion in search of the demon-god known as The Shrike each of the seven characters tells their story in turn.

Cooper says " My friend and I went to [producer] Graham King, who owns the rights to Hyperion, and we wrote a treatment on spec saying, 'Look we know this is very audacious, but could you just read this spec we wrote? We think we have a way in to tell this story'. So now we're negotiating and... who knows what's going to happen? Ideally I'd love to direct it... there's no way! I shouldn't say that, you never know. This is a huge movie, this would be an epic movie. But at least we've taken the reins and said, we're going to go after it and now we're gonna write the script. At least we have a shot to write the script for Hyperion."

Hyperion has been in the pipline forever....With Cooper attached the project will likely move ahead.

The story revolves around a man and a woman who put aside their adventurous days in order to have a family. When the man finds his life a bit routine, he can't resist going off in search of a long-buried, fabled icon, convincing his family they're merely going on vacation.

The story follows an inventor of an organic cleaning product (Seth Rogen) who invites his mother (Barbra Streisand) on a cross-country road trip to sell his product to marketing outlets. However they both have secret agendas. He plans to reunite her with a long lost love from her youth, she plans to help him overcome his fear of commitment.

Yvonne Strahovski also stars as Rogen's old high school flame.who is now married to Hanks. The two let Rogen and Streisand crash with them for the night when the mother and son get caught in a blizzard during the trip

The rom-com follows the titular young, recently-divorced couple (Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg) who decide to remain living together as they try to maintain their friendship while seeing other people.